Fabricating method of touch cover

ABSTRACT

A fabricating method of a touch cover is provided. The method includes shaping a substrate so that the substrate has an inner plane and an inner side surface extending from the inner plane, wherein the inner plane and the inner side surface are not coplanar. A conductor layer is formed all over the inner plane and the inner side surface of the substrate. The conductor layer is patterned to form a sensing circuit on the inner plane and to form at least a portion of a grounding circuit on the inner side surface.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a divisional application of and claims the priority benefit ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/556,199, filed on Jul. 24, 2012, nowallowed. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application ishereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of thisspecification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a fabricating method, and more particularly, toa fabricating method of a touch cover.

2. Description of Related Art

In current information era, human beings by degrees tend to rely onconsumer electronic products. The consumer electronic products such asmobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and tablet PCs arecommonly seen everywhere and have become inseparable from modern life.Input devices of the products have been changed from conventionalkeyboards and mice to touch covers so as to achieve the goals ofconvenience, miniaturization, and user-friendliness.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional touch cover. In aconventional touch cover 10, in order to prevent electromagneticinterference (EMI) or electrostatic discharge (ESD) from affectingoperation of an electronic apparatus, a grounding circuit is oftendisposed around a sensing circuit in the circuit layout of the touchcover of the electronic apparatus for protection purposes. In the touchcover 10, a sensing circuit 14 and a grounding circuit 16 are bothdisposed on a flexible substrate 18 first, and the flexible substrate 18is then attached to an inner plane 12 a of a substrate 12. As a result,an area required for the inner plane 12 a on the touch cover 10 cannotbe reduced. Accordingly, a width of the touch cover 10 is increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a fabricating method of a touch cover. The methodis suitable for fabricating the aforementioned touch cover.

The invention proposes a touch cover including a substrate, a sensingcircuit and a grounding circuit. The substrate has an inner plane and aninner side surface extending from the inner plane. The inner plane andthe inner side surface are not coplanar. The sensing circuit is disposedon the inner plane. At least a portion of the grounding circuit isdisposed on the inner side surface.

The invention proposes an electronic apparatus including a main body, adisplay module and a touch cover. The display module is disposed betweenthe main body and the touch cover. The touch cover includes a substrate,a sensing circuit and a grounding circuit. The substrate has an innerplane and an inner side surface extending from the inner plane. Theinner plane and the inner side surface are not coplanar. The sensingcircuit is disposed on the inner plane. At least a portion of thegrounding circuit is disposed on the inner side surface.

The invention provides a fabricating method of a touch cover. The methodincludes shaping a substrate so that the substrate has an inner planeand an inner side surface extending from the inner plane, wherein theinner plane and the inner side surface are not coplanar. A conductorlayer is formed all over the inner plane and the inner side surface ofthe substrate. The conductor layer is patterned to form a sensingcircuit on the inner plane and to form at least a portion of a groundingcircuit on the inner side surface.

In an embodiment of the invention, the substrate is a glass substrate.

In an embodiment of the invention, the inner side surface is a planesurface or a curved surface.

In an embodiment of the invention, the sensing circuit has sensing padsarranged in an array on the inner plane.

In an embodiment of the invention, the grounding circuit is disposedalong an edge of the substrate.

In an embodiment of the invention, the touch cover further includes aflexible printed circuit (FPC) electrically connected with the groundingcircuit and the sensing circuit.

In an embodiment of the invention, materials of the sensing circuit andthe grounding circuit are the same.

In an embodiment of the invention, the touch cover further includes alight-shielding layer disposed on the inner plane and the inner sidesurface. The light-shielding layer covers the grounding circuit.

In an embodiment of the invention, the fabricating method of the touchcover further includes cutting the substrate from a mother substratebefore shaping the substrate.

In an embodiment of the invention, the fabricating method of the touchcover further includes performing a chemical strengthening process onthe shaped substrate after shaping the substrate and before fog theconductor layer.

In an embodiment of the invention, the step of patterning the conductorlayer is patterning the conductor layer by a laser, and a beam diameterof the laser is 30 μm.

In an embodiment of the invention, the fabricating method of the touchcover further includes disposing a light-shielding layer on the innerplane and the inner side surface after patterning the conductor layer.The light-shielding layer covers the grounding circuit.

Based on the above, the touch cover of the invention is designed to havethe appearance of a three-dimensional structure. Moreover, the groundingcircuit is disposed on the inner side surface which is not coplanar withthe inner plane of a display area, thereby decreasing the edge width ofthe touch cover outside a touch display area and contributingsignificantly to a decrease in width of the electronic apparatus.

To make the aforementioned features and advantages of the invention morecomprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described indetail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional touch cover.

FIG. 2A is a front view of an electronic apparatus according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the electronic apparatus depictedin FIG. 2A along a sectional line A-A.

FIG. 3 is a schematic back view of the touch cover depicted in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 4A to FIG. 4F illustrate a fabricating method of the touch coverdepicted in FIG. 2A.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 2A is a front view of an electronic apparatus according to anembodiment of the invention. FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of theelectronic apparatus depicted in FIG. 2A along a sectional line A-A.Referring to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, an electronic apparatus 100 of theinvention includes a main body 110, a display module 120 and a touchcover 130. The display module 120 is disposed between the main body 110and the touch cover 130. The touch cover 130 includes a substrate 132, asensing circuit 134 and a grounding circuit 136. The substrate 132 hasan inner plane 132 a and an inner side surface 132 b extending from theinner plane 132 a. The inner plane 132 a and the inner side surface 132b are not coplanar. The sensing circuit 134 is disposed on the innerplane 132 a and at least a portion of the grounding circuit 136 isdisposed on the inner side surface 132 b. In other words, the groundingcircuit 136 may also be partially disposed on the inner plane 132 a. Inother embodiments, the grounding circuit may be completely disposed onthe inner side surface of the substrate.

In the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2B, the inner plane 132 a and theinner side surface 132 b of the substrate 132 are not coplanar.Specifically speaking, the touch cover 130 is a three-dimensionalstructure. The inner plane 132 a of the substrate 132 is parallel withthe display module 120, and the sensing circuit 134 is disposed on theinner plane 132 a. In this embodiment, a portion of the groundingcircuit 136 is disposed on the inner side surface 132 b, so as to reducethe space reserved for disposing the grounding circuit 136 on the innerplane 132 a of the touch cover 130. Therefore, compared to the touchcover 10 in FIG. 1, the touch cover 130 in FIG. 2B reduces not only aspacing (e.g., 0.1 mm) between an edge of the sensing circuit 134 and anedge of the inner plane 132 a, but also a width of the electronicapparatus 100.

In this embodiment, the substrate 132 of the touch cover 130 is a glasssubstrate. The glass substrate is, for example, soda lime glass. Theinner plane 132 a of the touch cover 130 is designed as a plane surfaceor a curved surface depending on the appearance of the electronicapparatus 100. However, the invention does not limit the material of thesubstrate 132 and the appearance of the inner side surface 132 b of thesubstrate 132. The inner side surface 132 b in this embodiment is shownas a plane surface for schematic purposes. In addition, alight-shielding layer 139 is further included on the inner plane 132 aand the inner side surface 132 b of the touch cover 130, as shown inFIG. 2B. The light-shielding layer 139 is disposed on the inner plane132 a and the inner side surface 132 b and covers the grounding circuit136. By disposing the light-shielding layer 139, the touch cover 130 isequipped with an opaque edge which is visible externally and covers anassembly structure of the touch cover 130 and the main body 110 tomaintain a beautiful external appearance.

FIG. 3 is a schematic back view of the touch cover depicted in FIG. 2A.Referring to FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the touch cover 130 has asingle-layer sensing circuit 134. The sensing circuit 134 has aplurality of sensing pads 134 a, the sensing pads 134 a being arrangedin an array on the inner plane 132 a. The sensing pads 134 a arranged inan array are distributed over a display area of the touch cover 130.When a user touches the touch cover 130 in accordance with patternsshowed on the display module 120 in order to operate the electronicapparatus 100, the sensing pads 134 a sense and generate a signal, whichis transmitted to the main body 110 via the sensing circuit 134 (asshown in FIG. 2B). The grounding circuit 136 is disposed around thesensing circuit 134. In this embodiment, the grounding circuit 136 andthe sensing circuit 134 have the same material.

When there is electromagnetic interference or static electricity (suchas the static electricity generated when a protection film is detachedfrom the touch cover 130) around the electronic apparatus 100, thegrounding circuit 136 protects the sensing circuit 134 from interferenceor damage by the static electricity. In addition, in this embodiment,the touch cover 130 has a flexible printed circuit (FPC) 138. Thegrounding circuit 136 and the sensing circuit 134 are electricallyconnected onto the FPC 138, and the touch cover 130 is electricallyconnected with the main body 110 via the FPC 138. However, the inventionneither limits the forms of the sensing circuit and the groundingcircuit of the touch cover, nor limits the manner of electricalconnection between the touch cover and the main body.

FIG. 4A to FIG. 4F illustrate a fabricating method of the touch coverdepicted in FIG. 2A. The fabricating method of the touch cover 130 inthe aforementioned embodiment includes the following steps. As shown inFIG. 4B, a substrate 310 is shaped to have an inner plane 312 and aninner side surface 314 extending from the inner plane 312, wherein theinner plane 312 and the inner side surface 314 are not coplanar. Next,as shown in FIG. 4D, a conductor layer 320 is formed all over the innerplane 312 and the inner side surface 314 of the substrate 310. Theconductor layer 320 is formed by vapor deposition or sputtering, and theinvention is not limited thereto. Next, as shown in FIG. 4E, theconductor layer 320 is patterned to form a sensing circuit 322 on theinner plane 312 and to form at least a portion of a grounding circuit324 on the inner side surface 314.

By utilizing the aforementioned methods, at least a portion of thegrounding circuit 324 is formed on the inner side surface 314 of thesubstrate 310 to reduce an area of the inner plane 312 of the substrate310, and further, to reduce an area of the whole touch cover 130.

Before the substrate 310 is shaped, a plurality of the substrates 310are selectively cut from a mother substrate 300, as shown in FIG. 4A.The cutting is, for example, done by a grinder. Alternatively, theplurality of the substrates 310 may be broken off from the mothersubstrate 300 after a V-shaped notch is created on a surface of themother substrate 300. The invention is not limited thereto. After thesubstrate 310 is shaped into a three-dimensional shape, a chemicalstrengthening process is performed thereon as shown in FIG. 4C.Mechanical properties of the substrates 310 are strengthened by asoaking treatment in chemicals, so that growth of micro-cracks caused onthe substrates 310 being cut from the mother substrate 300 is reduced,and thus fracture will not occur during subsequent processes or duringthe use. In addition, in the step of FIG. 4E, the conductor layer 320 ispatterned by, for example, a laser 400. A beam diameter of the laser 400is, for example, 30 μm. The beam diameter of the laser 400 determinesthe minimum distance between lines in the sensing circuit 322. Moreover,a smaller beam diameter of the laser 400 increases a utilization rate ofthe conductor layer 320. In addition, during the patterning process ofthe conductor layer 320 using the laser 400, the substrate 310 is fixedby a fixture, and an orientation of the substrate 310 on the fixture isadjusted depending on an orientation of a surface requiring patterning.Accordingly, skewness or imprecision of circuit after the patterning asa result of accumulation of process tolerance in manufacture isdecreased. The invention neither limits the method for patterning theconductor layer by laser nor limits the diameter of the laser. Inaddition, after the conductor layer 320 is patterned, a light-shieldinglayer 330 is disposed on the inner plane 312 and the inner side surface314, as shown in FIG. 4F. The light-shielding layer 330 covers thegrounding circuit 324 to provide the touch cover 130 with a beautifulexternal appearance. The light-shielding layer 330 is disposed by, forexample, a screen-printing method.

In summary, the touch cover of the invention is designed to have theappearance of a three-dimensional structure. The sensing circuit isdisposed on the inner plane of the touch cover, while the groundingcircuit is disposed on the inner side surface which is not coplanar withthe inner plane. Accordingly, the chance that electromagneticinterference or static electricity affects the sensing circuit isreduced. Moreover, the edge width of the touch cover outside the touchdisplay area is decreased, which contributes significantly to a decreasein width of the electronic apparatus. In addition, the fabricatingmethod of a touch cover provided in the invention is suitable forfabricating the touch cover having the aforementioned features.

Although the invention has been described with reference to the aboveembodiments, it is apparent to one of the ordinary skill in the art thatmodifications to the described embodiments may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of theinvention will be defined by the attached claims not by the abovedetailed descriptions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A fabricating method of a touch cover, comprising shaping a substrate so that the substrate has an inner plane and an inner side surface extending from the inner plane, wherein the inner plane and the inner side surface are not coplanar; forming a conductor layer all over the inner plane and the inner side surface of the substrate; and patterning the conductor layer to form a sensing circuit on the inner plane and to form a grounding circuit completely on the inner side surface.
 2. The fabricating method of a touch cover as claimed in claim 1, further comprising cutting a plurality of the substrates from a mother substrate before shaping the substrate.
 3. The fabricating method of a touch cover as claimed in claim 1, further comprising performing a chemical strengthening process on the shaped substrate after shaping the substrate and before forming the conductor layer.
 4. The fabricating method of a touch cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of patterning the conductor layer is patterning the conductor layer by a laser.
 5. The fabricating method of a touch cover as claimed in claim 4, wherein a beam diameter of the laser is 30 μm.
 6. The fabricating method of a touch cover as claimed in claim 1, further comprising disposing a light-shielding layer on the inner plane and the inner side surface after patterning the conductor layer, the light-shielding layer covering the grounding circuit. 